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19 Marvellous Facts about the Marshall Islands

As the name suggests, the Marshall Islands are an island country located near the equator in the Pacific Ocean; they lie almost midway between Indonesia and Hawaii and form the most easterly island group in Micronesia (a sub-region of Oceania that comprises thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean).

The coordinates are 7.0667° N, 171.2667° E.

This country is 2,486 miles (4,000 kilometres) northeast of Australia.

The Marshall Islands consist of 24 low-lying coral atolls and 1,156 individual islands and islets, though only 4 islands and 19 atolls are inhabited. Still, lots to explore!

It has an approximate area of 70 square miles (181 square kilometres).

A large coral island comprising of sixty four islands called Majuro is the capital of the Marshall Islands. Majuro is the largest city in the Marshall Islands with an estimated population of 25,400 and a total area of 3.7 square miles (9.6 square kilometres).

The official languages are Marshallese and English.

The United Sates Dollar (USD) is the currency here.

Micronesian islands were often visited, settled, colonised or occupied by the British, Germans, Russians, Americans and the Japanese.

Commercial crops that are produced here consist of coconuts, tomatoes, melons, and breadfruit.

Modern industries such as handicrafts, fish processing, copra, banking, and insurance are all part of the economy.

With a huge central lagoon, the Kwajalein Atoll is the largest coral atoll on the planet!

If you’re into your diving or snorkelling you’ll be interested to know that there’s a lot to explore; from the 800 species of fish and 160 species of coral to the numerous offshore World War II shipwrecks, the beautiful clear-blue waters that surround the Marshall Islands have something to offer everyone.

Due to climate change and the fact that the atolls and islands are only a couple of metres above sea level, the Marshall Islands are at serious threat of a rising sea level.